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The Sun Is Also a Star Hardcover – November 1, 2016
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The #1 New York Times bestseller and National Book Award Finalist from the bestselling author of Everything, Everything will have you falling in love with Natasha and Daniel as they fall in love with each other.
Natasha: I’m a girl who believes in science and facts. Not fate. Not destiny. Or dreams that will never come true. I’m definitely not the kind of girl who meets a cute boy on a crowded New York City street and falls in love with him. Not when my family is twelve hours away from being deported to Jamaica. Falling in love with him won’t be my story.
Daniel: I’ve always been the good son, the good student, living up to my parents’ high expectations. Never the poet. Or the dreamer. But when I see her, I forget about all that. Something about Natasha makes me think that fate has something much more extraordinary in store—for both of us.
The Universe: Every moment in our lives has brought us to this single moment. A million futures lie before us. Which one will come true?
***
"Beautifully crafted."--People Magazine
"A book that is very much about the many factors that affect falling in love, as much as it is about the very act itself . . . fans of Yoon’s first novel, Everything Everything, will find much to love—if not, more—in what is easily an even stronger follow up." —Entertainment Weekly
"Transcends the limits of YA as a human story about falling in love and seeking out our futures." —POPSUGAR.com
- Reading age12 - 17 years
- Print length384 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- Grade level7 - 9
- Lexile measureHL650L
- Dimensions5.81 x 1.32 x 8.56 inches
- PublisherDelacorte Press
- Publication dateNovember 1, 2016
- ISBN-100553496689
- ISBN-13978-0553496680
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A National Book Award Finalist
A Michael L. Printz Honor Book
A New York Times Notable Book
A BuzzFeed Best YA Book of the Year
A POPSUGAR Best Book of the Year
A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year
A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year
A Booklist Editor's Choice
A New York Public Library Best Book for Teens
Recipient of the John Steptoe New Talent Award
A Walter Award Honor Book
★ "An exhilarating, hopeful novel exploring identity, family, the love of science and the science of love, dark matter and interconnectedness--is about seeing and being seen and the possibility of love... and it shines." —Shelf Awareness, starred review
★ “Moving and suspenseful.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review
★ “Lyrical and sweeping, full of hope, heartbreak, fate. . . and the universal beating of the human heart." —Booklist, starred review
★ "Fresh and compelling." —The Horn Book, starred review
★ "With appeal to cynics and romantics alike, this profound exploration of life and love tempers harsh realities with the beauty of hope in a way that is both deeply moving and satisfying."—Kirkus, starred review
★ “A love story that is smart without being cynical, heartwarming without being cloying, and schmaltzy in all the best ways.”—The Bulletin, starred review
"This wistful love story will be adored by fans of Rainbow Rowell’s Eleanor & Park."—SLJ
Praise for Everything, Everything:
“[A] fresh, moving debut.” —Entertainment Weekly
“Gorgeous and lyrical.” —The New York Times Book Review
“Will give you butterflies.” —Seventeen
“A do-not-miss for fans of John Green and Rainbow Rowell (aka everyone).” —Justine
“YA book lovers, your newest obsession is here.”—MTV.com
About the Author
Nicola Yoon is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Everything, Everything, The Sun Is Also a Star and Instructions for Dancing. She is a National Book Award finalist, a Michael L. Printz Honor Book recipient, and a Coretta Scott King New Talent Award winner. Her first two novels have been made into major motion pictures. Nicola grew up in Jamaica and Brooklyn, and lives in Los Angeles with her husband, novelist David Yoon, and their family. She is a hopeless romantic who firmly believes that you can fall in love in an instant and that it can last forever. Together Nicola and David are the co-founders of Joy Revolution, an imprint at Random House Children's Books focused on romance novels by people of color about people of color, inspired by the Yoons' love of romance novels and romantic comedies, and desire from an early age to see themselves—people of color—at the center of these stories. Visit Nicola online at nicolayoon.com and follow @NicolaYoon on Twitter and Instagram.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
prologue
CARL SAGAN SAID that if you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe. When he says “from scratch,” he means from nothing. He means from a time before the world even existed. If you want to make an apple pie from nothing at all, you have to start with the Big Bang and expanding universes, neutrons, ions, atoms, black holes, suns, moons, ocean tides, the Milky Way, Earth, evolution, dinosaurs, extinction-level events, platypuses, Homo erectus, Cro-Magnon man, etc. You have to start at the beginning. You must invent fire. You need water and fertile soil and seeds. You need cows and people to milk them and more people to churn that milk into butter. You need wheat and sugar cane and apple trees. You need chemistry and biology. For a really good apple pie, you need the arts. For an apple pie that can last for generations, you need the printing press and the Industrial Revolution and maybe even a poem.
To make a thing as simple as an apple pie, you have to create the whole wide world.
daniel
Local Teen Accepts Destiny, Agrees to Become Doctor, Stereotype
It’s Charlie’s fault that my summer (and now fall) has been one absurd headline after another. Charles Jae Won Bae, aka Charlie, my older brother, firstborn son of a firstborn son, surprised my parents (and all their friends, and the entire gossiping Korean community of Flushing, New York) by getting kicked out of Harvard University (Best School, my mother said, when his acceptance letter arrived). Now he’s been kicked out of Best School, and all summer my mom frowns and doesn’t quite believe and doesn’t quite understand.
Why you grades so bad? They kick you out? Why they kick you out? Why not make you stay and study more?
My dad says, Not kick out. Require to withdraw. Not the same as kick out.
Charlie grumbles: It’s just temporary, only for two semesters.
Under this unholy barrage of my parents’ confusion and shame and disappointment, even I almost feel bad for Charlie. Almost.
natasha
MY MOM SAYS IT’S TIME for me to give up now, and that what I’m doing is futile. She’s upset, so her accent is thicker than usual, and every statement is a question.
“You no think is time for you to give up now, Tasha? You no think that what you doing is futile?”
She draws out the first syllable of futile for a second too long. My dad doesn’t say anything. He’s mute with anger or impotence. I’m never sure which. His frown is so deep and so complete that it’s hard to imagine his face with another expression. If this were even just a few months ago, I’d be sad to see him like this, but now I don’t really care. He’s the reason we’re all in this mess.
Peter, my nine-year-old brother, is the only one of us happy with this turn of events. Right now, he’s packing his suitcase and playing “No Woman, No Cry” by Bob Marley. “Old- school packing music,” he called it.
Despite the fact that he was born here in America, Peter says he wants to live in Jamaica. He’s always been pretty shy and has a hard time making friends. I think he imagines that Jamaica will be a paradise and that, somehow, things will be better for him there.
The four of us are in the living room of our one-bedroom apartment. The living room doubles as a bedroom, and Peter and I share it. It has two small sofa beds that we pull out at night, and a bright blue curtain down the middle for privacy. Right now the curtain is pulled aside so you can see both our halves at once.
It’s pretty easy to guess which one of us wants to leave and which wants to stay. My side still looks lived-in. My books are on my small IKEA shelf. My favorite picture of me and my best friend, Bev, is still sitting on my desk. We’re wearing safety goggles and sexy-pouting at the camera in physics lab. The safety goggles were my idea. The sexy-pouting was hers. I haven’t removed a single item of clothing from my dresser. I haven’t even taken down my NASA star map poster. It’s huge—actually eight posters that I taped together—and shows all the major stars, constellations, and sections of the Milky Way visible from the Northern Hemisphere. It even has instructions on how to find Polaris and navigate your way by stars in case you get lost. The poster tubes I bought for packing it are leaning unopened against the wall.
On Peter’s side, virtually all the surfaces are bare, most of his possessions already packed away into boxes and suitcases.
My mom is right, of course—what I’m doing is futile. Still, I grab my headphones, my physics textbook, and some comics. If I have time to kill, maybe I can finish up my homework and read.
Peter shakes his head at me. “Why are you bringing that?” he asks, meaning the textbook. “We’re leaving, Tasha. You don’t have to turn in homework.”
Peter has just discovered the power of sarcasm. He uses it every chance he gets.
I don’t bother responding to him, just put my headphones on and head for the door. “Back soon,” I say to my mom.
She kisses her teeth and turns away. I remind myself that she’s not upset with me. Tasha, is not you me upset with, you know? is something she says a lot these days. I’m going to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) building in downtown Manhattan to see if someone there can help me. We are undocumented immigrants, and we’re being deported tonight.
Today is my last chance to try to convince someone—or fate—to help me find a way to stay in America.
To be clear: I don’t believe in fate. But I’m desperate.
Product details
- Publisher : Delacorte Press; Later Printing edition (November 1, 2016)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 384 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0553496689
- ISBN-13 : 978-0553496680
- Reading age : 12 - 17 years
- Lexile measure : HL650L
- Grade level : 7 - 9
- Item Weight : 1.08 pounds
- Dimensions : 5.81 x 1.32 x 8.56 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #101,984 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- Customer Reviews:
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The Sun Is Also a Star
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About the author

Nicola Yoon is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Everything, Everything, The Sun Is Also a Star, Instructions for Dancing, and co-author of Blackout. She is a National Book Award finalist, a Michael L. Printz Honor Book recipient and a Coretta Scott King New Talent Award winner. Two of her novels have been made into major motion pictures. Nicola grew up in Jamaica and Brooklyn, and lives in Los Angeles with her husband, novelist David Yoon, and their daughter, both of whom she loves beyond all reason. You can find her at www.NicolaYoon.com and @NicolaYoon on Twitter/Instagram
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Reviewed in the United States on January 23, 2020
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The Sun Is Also a Star is a brilliant representation of humanity, and the roles love, fate, chance, and purpose play in how our world unfolds around us. Sun follows Natasha and David, two teenagers who are at points in their lives when their decisions have more weight, their futures uncertain, and their destinies seemingly in everyone else’s hands but their own. The story takes place over the course of a day, on the busy streets of New York City, and uses a unique narrative consisting of multiple POVs. Nicola Yoon converges lives and shows that even within our own story, the rest of the world matters.
Sun is about dreamers. It’s about the romantics and it’s about the realists. It’s about everyone who simply dreams of a life filled with happiness, passion, and love. It’s also about those who practically dream of security and freedom. Sun is about the immigrant story, one that’s more important than ever.
Sun follows Daniel, a Korean American boy who doesn’t fit into his family, and doesn’t fit into his country. It’s about Natasha, an undocumented Jamaican immigrant, who would appear more “American” than most Americans, because she certainly doesn’t “act Jamaican” but she’s not and she’s about to be deported. Sun is about our parents, who grew up with dreams as well, and we may or may not have played a part in those dreams. Sun is about the strangers around us, whose decisions can have unforeseeable, and long-lasting effects on our lives. It’s also about the strangers who are also affected by the decisions we make.
This is a story I think everyone should experience. It’s both global and intimate. It’s a love story, but also so much more. The characters in this book are layered and multifaceted. The story is thoughtful, profound, romantic, and hopeful. Yes, it’s a teenage love story—one that I fell hard and fast for—but it’s also about family and history. And of course, I was all in once I saw that it’s a reflection of my culture, and myself, and Nicola Yoon brightly showcases the beautiful complexity of my history, the complicated relationships intertwined, the dreams of my past and my future.
If you’ve read Everything, Everything, then you’ll recognize the exceptional style of Nicola Yoon’s prose. It’s gorgeous really, and even more so because she has this way of including seemingly random gems and factoids, and making the dry seem poetic. It’s hard to understand unless you’ve read her (read her!), but like Natasha, Nicola is a scientist and a romantic, and when those two combine, magic happens.
The Sun Is Also a Star is magic. It’s sweet, it’s meaningful, it’s heartbreaking, it’s buoyant, it sweeps you away, and yet keeps you grounded at the same time. This thought provoking love story is one I had a difficult time reviewing because I didn’t think I could truly convey what it meant to me. I reviewed it, but still haven’t expressed all I felt. I’ll just say that The Sun Is Also a Star shows how love provides hope and reason in a sometimes unfair and unreasonable world, and that message is everything to a romantic in a cynical world. I highly recommend.
Yes, they had chemistry but since it all happened in one day, I still feel that everything was a little bit rushed.
Daniel said it well.
“Our history is too compressed. We’re trying to fit a lifetime into a day.”
And yes, I get the point that this was all supposed to happen in a day. But I’m not really a big fan of instalove so I didn’t like that part much. I also had a little problem with the ending. Everything was perfect and I was about to give this five stars since it kind of negated the instalove part.
Aside from that everything was perfect.
THE CHARACTERS
Daniel. Surprisingly, I connected a lot more with Daniel than with Natasha. He is like the guy version of me. He writes poems, does things he’s supposed to, and a hopeless romantic. I think he is the most unique male lead among all the books I have ever read. His character was well developed and I really got to know him throughout the whole book. Most books will focus more on the female lead but this one had balance and I admire Nicola Yoon for that.
Natasha. Honestly, I had a hard time picturing Natasha. After reading this book, I realized I have never really read books with black characters. And that’s one of the best things about this book. Natasha is not your typical female lead. I love how she and Daniel are complete opposites. She believes in science and he believes in destiny. Most of the time, it’s the other way around.
The side characters. This is also one of the best parts of the book. Aside from the two main characters, we get snippets of other people’s stories. I love how everything was well connected. Life is indeed a chain reaction of events, seemingly unrelated, but when you look at it as a whole, it is actually connected to one another, no matter how small that connection might be.
THE PLOT
The plot is not very complicated but the way it was delivered was really great. I like to think of it as a river. Everything flowed smoothly, the transition was perfect and it was somewhat realistic, even if you don’t believe in destiny and all that stuff.
THE WRITING
Nicola Yoon writes beautifully. This book is probably my most highlighted book ever and I even wanted to highlight a whole chapter (it is Half-Life, in case you want to know). She is the kind of author that writes books that you want to devour and read every word. Not a single word is wasted on her. I just read the excerpt of Everything, Everything at the end of this book and I think I’m going to read that next.
Overall, this book was great. It is better than some of the books I gave five stars to so I feel a little bad for giving this only four. But I rate books based on feeling and I let my emotions rule when I read. Sadly, this one lacked a little of that feeling that I always look for.
This is a book that I would recommend to those who want books that make you think. While reading this, it made me contemplate about life, destiny, science, equality, and well, everything really.
Top reviews from other countries

The whole story takes place in ONE day so you can’t argue with the insta-love plot, can you? I mean there are always limitations to writing a story in such a short period of time. I usually don’t understand how two people meet for the first time and fall in love instantly when they are quite different? But believe me, this story was so perfectly written that you would actually ignore the insta-love plot and would start rooting for Daniel and Natasha 🙂
Probably, I should talk about the ending at the end of this review but I think it is better if I do it right here. We have a nice perception related to insta-love stories regarding how they would end. I had same expectations from this story too. But Nicola Yoon did a wonderful job with the ending part. Though my little heart broke badly, I was happy that she chose this ending. That made the story more believable but yes I wished it to be a little longer.
Natasha and Daniel are two teens who find each other one fine day in New York. Natasha was an undocumented migrant and was about to be deported to Jamaica that day because of a mistake her father made. Daniel was the son of two South Korean parents but was born in America. Daniel and Natasha were totally different. One was a believer in love while another was a believer in science. Nicola Yoon created an atmosphere where two people meet who are so different yet bound together by time, destiny, love and who are “meant to be” somehow.
A unique thing about the representation of the story was the change of perspectives. I loved how the story was switched between Natasha’s and Daniel’s perspectives, but the better thing was including the perspectives of minor side characters and third person chapters too, which made the story more interesting. For example, there were chapters related to the history of hair products for black people, which definitely made the little insights into the story more interesting. There were some chapters related to past of a few characters who played a significant role in the story. Those memories show us how the choices made by a person can affect their future and how those choices can impact other peoples lives.
This story was more about life than love. No matter what decision you make, it is going to affect your present and future. And if it is meant to be, then it has to be. Life is full of surprises and you don’t know what would come next. But giving up is not the option.
Nicola Yoon has presented a lot of diversity in this book. There is a strong representation of immigration issues and race. Daniel and Natasha both are immigrants but the difference is one is legal while the another is undocumented. The migration story from both the perspectives offer their own messages and struggles and represent family and identity thus making the story more than just the romance.
Apart from diversity, the issues like loneliness and mental health have also been raised. There is a side character whose story I loved. This tells you that how little gestures can make an impact on peoples lives. This story gives you hope and courage. but most importantly, it makes you find the light within yourself.
Overall, this was a fantastic read and now I am a fan of Nicol Yoon’s writing. The build-up of the story was good and the characters were adorable. The story was well written and also it was fast-paced. All the immigrant’s issues were presented so well. They were hard to digest but I am glad that Nicola Yoon has not sugarcoated anything. If you are looking for a diverse YA contemporary read with a cute romance, then this book is definitely for you. This story is just magical!

It’s a beautiful read, consistently making me want to laugh and cry, and question my own opinions in regard to how the universe works.
Firstly, I’d like to mention that the cover art for this book is absolutely stunning. Upon finishing it, I understood its meaning immediately: that every second, different people, things and circumstances are all brought together, and they clash to create an outburst of consequences that have a huge impact on the rest of our lives. We make hundreds of decisions every single day, and each of these decisions leads to a different future where hundreds of more decisions lie. The outcome depends on which route we take. The cover and the novel, both encourage readers to think about everything they do with an open mind, and to be careful with how we effect other people’s journeys.
Leading on from that, I love how every event in the novel was interlinked with another, how every person we were introduced to either had a hand in how Daniel and Natasha’s lives played out, or vice-versa. It shows how even saying one kind (or rude) word to a stranger can influence them to make a huge life-changing decision.
The novel also dealt well with racism and how young people cope with having extremely prejudice parents. Daniel’s father’s disrespect towards Natasha and his embarrassment, I felt was written incredibly well and worked towards giving the characters more dimension. It’s realistic to write, not only about two characters who are both considered minorities in Twenty-First Century America, but who also don’t conform to the stereotypes placed on them. Daniel’s issues with his Korean parents wanting what’s best for him instead of what makes him happiest, and Natasha’s father wanting what’s best for himself instead of what’s best for his family, gives them common ground which many readers will be able to identify with. Yoon portrays realistic family dynamics in showing that they are complicated and hardly ever perfect.
Although I loved The Sun Is Also a Star, the reason I’m not giving it five stars, is that it was a little hard to get into. I think this was because the chapters started off very short and kept switching perspectives, however I understand that this was necessary to get the whole concept across. More into the middle I began to enjoy the short chapters because they gave us access to what each character was thinking in any particular moment. Something else that bothered me, was Natasha’s personality. As brutal as that sounds, she was a bit hard to like because of her pessimistic nature and how rude she was to Daniel at times, but as the story went on and he warmed her heart, she was much easier to read.
The ending was absolutely amazing – so amazing that it brought tears to my eyes for literally no reason! I wholeheartedly recommend this book as it really can change your entire viewpoint on the world and our day-to-day lives. 4 stars to Nicola Yoon’s, The Sun Is Also a Star. Brilliant.


Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on September 8, 2018
It’s a beautiful read, consistently making me want to laugh and cry, and question my own opinions in regard to how the universe works.
Firstly, I’d like to mention that the cover art for this book is absolutely stunning. Upon finishing it, I understood its meaning immediately: that every second, different people, things and circumstances are all brought together, and they clash to create an outburst of consequences that have a huge impact on the rest of our lives. We make hundreds of decisions every single day, and each of these decisions leads to a different future where hundreds of more decisions lie. The outcome depends on which route we take. The cover and the novel, both encourage readers to think about everything they do with an open mind, and to be careful with how we effect other people’s journeys.
Leading on from that, I love how every event in the novel was interlinked with another, how every person we were introduced to either had a hand in how Daniel and Natasha’s lives played out, or vice-versa. It shows how even saying one kind (or rude) word to a stranger can influence them to make a huge life-changing decision.
The novel also dealt well with racism and how young people cope with having extremely prejudice parents. Daniel’s father’s disrespect towards Natasha and his embarrassment, I felt was written incredibly well and worked towards giving the characters more dimension. It’s realistic to write, not only about two characters who are both considered minorities in Twenty-First Century America, but who also don’t conform to the stereotypes placed on them. Daniel’s issues with his Korean parents wanting what’s best for him instead of what makes him happiest, and Natasha’s father wanting what’s best for himself instead of what’s best for his family, gives them common ground which many readers will be able to identify with. Yoon portrays realistic family dynamics in showing that they are complicated and hardly ever perfect.
Although I loved The Sun Is Also a Star, the reason I’m not giving it five stars, is that it was a little hard to get into. I think this was because the chapters started off very short and kept switching perspectives, however I understand that this was necessary to get the whole concept across. More into the middle I began to enjoy the short chapters because they gave us access to what each character was thinking in any particular moment. Something else that bothered me, was Natasha’s personality. As brutal as that sounds, she was a bit hard to like because of her pessimistic nature and how rude she was to Daniel at times, but as the story went on and he warmed her heart, she was much easier to read.
The ending was absolutely amazing – so amazing that it brought tears to my eyes for literally no reason! I wholeheartedly recommend this book as it really can change your entire viewpoint on the world and our day-to-day lives. 4 stars to Nicola Yoon’s, The Sun Is Also a Star. Brilliant.


Daniel has always been the responsible one. The second son of a Korean family who loves him but has made him live in the shadow of his more successful older brother. He worked hard and strove to make his parents proud. When his brother Charlie messes up his previously impressive life by getting kicked out of college, their parents shift their focus onto him. They expect great things including him getting early acceptance at Yale and studying to be a doctor. Neither idea appeals to Daniel as he would rather write poetry about life and love. On his way to his college interview, he meets Natasha and he is determined to prove to her that love truly exists no matter what it takes.
With time running out for them to have the future that they dream of, will the universe interfere and send them down a different path together or are they fated to keep the hand they were dealt while being separated in the process?
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 I loved the setup for this story. Daniel and Natasha are complete opposites but somehow the fact that their lives are shaped both by their families and societal circumstance gives them a common bond. Daniel's sweetness softens Natasha's hard outlook on life while Natasha's pragmatic and strongminded spirit inspires Daniel to stand up for himself. They complement and empower each other as they fall in love. It was a complicated and emotional story that kept me gripped until the very last line. Beautifully written with incredible characters. I highly recommend it.


Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on November 8, 2022
Daniel has always been the responsible one. The second son of a Korean family who loves him but has made him live in the shadow of his more successful older brother. He worked hard and strove to make his parents proud. When his brother Charlie messes up his previously impressive life by getting kicked out of college, their parents shift their focus onto him. They expect great things including him getting early acceptance at Yale and studying to be a doctor. Neither idea appeals to Daniel as he would rather write poetry about life and love. On his way to his college interview, he meets Natasha and he is determined to prove to her that love truly exists no matter what it takes.
With time running out for them to have the future that they dream of, will the universe interfere and send them down a different path together or are they fated to keep the hand they were dealt while being separated in the process?
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 I loved the setup for this story. Daniel and Natasha are complete opposites but somehow the fact that their lives are shaped both by their families and societal circumstance gives them a common bond. Daniel's sweetness softens Natasha's hard outlook on life while Natasha's pragmatic and strongminded spirit inspires Daniel to stand up for himself. They complement and empower each other as they fall in love. It was a complicated and emotional story that kept me gripped until the very last line. Beautifully written with incredible characters. I highly recommend it.


Yoon's approach to this book was very unique. There were two main POVs, Daniel and Natasha, but there were still snippets of fact and other character POVs that kept the story flowing and provided a different perspective. I really liked the way this book was structured and the length of each chapter especially because it felt like a really quick read and stood out from others as well-written, contemporary and buzzing with both energy and intensity. Natasha and Daniel were really great characters, I liked the book's focus on racism between minorities and immigration (Natasha is an illegal Jamaican immigrant about to be deported and Daniel, of Korean descent, is being forced to live the 'American dream' by his parents who had it harder) which is something rarely covered in books.
I have to say though, despite throwing in lots of other distractions along the way, the insta-love still made me eye roll just a teensy bit. Especially as Natasha was so dead-set against it! Some of the quotes in this book are clever and a little cute, but a fair few of them could be pretty vomit-inducing for most of the reading public. As the book was focussing on such serious issues, I really wanted to believe that this story could happen. But it struck me as . little too cringey to be feasible. Of COURSE Daniel is a poet (and boy, do we know it). Of COURSE he sees 'signs' and 'fate' in the most mundane of things. Of COURSE Natasha goes along with it and doesn't report him for stalking her like that. Of COURSE love wins all, even though they have only known each other for a day! Yeah, it definitely felt like a marmite book to me, but it won me round!

It seems as if the stars and fate align to bring Natasha and Daniel together on the day Natasha and her family are due to be deported from America as illegal undocumented immigrants. Natasha has worked hard to carve a successful future for herself and just wants the same opportunities as her friends in the only country she's known and which she calls home. Will she be able to get the help she needs to overcome the judge's decision?
Nicola Yoon creates characters so convincingly and just glues her readers to the page with what feels like effortless plotting. I felt as if Natasha and Daniel's journey was one I travelled with them and I had my fingers crossed for the right outcome throughout. No spoilers.
From a writer's perspective, this book is written in a head hopping style, which the reader gets used to because it is a tool which is used consistently. Additionally, because the book largely only follows these two characters. I recommend buying this book too to see how this has worked in this instance, but not to try it yourself. Nicola Yoon is a particularly skilled author.